Operations

Customer love fuels Blue Moon Pizza's next chapter

Blue Moon Pizza, an Atlanta favorite, is set for growth under new partners Jordan Krolick and Jeff Goldt. Leveraging strong customer loyalty and a loved "hybrid" pizza, they're implementing improved systems, data analytics and a focus on service. The goal is to expand the brand's reach while maintaining its reputation for quality and value.

Photo: Blue Moon Pizza

June 5, 2025 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

After two decades quietly building a loyal following in Atlanta, Blue Moon Pizza is poised for a new chapter. With recent partners Jordan Krolick and Jeff Goldt now at the helm of daily operations, the beloved local brand — known for its unique hybrid pizzas and passionate customer base — is ready to expand its reach and solidify its place as a top choice for pizza lovers across the city.

Blue Moon Pizza launched in the early 2000s in Atlanta, Georgia. The brand's partners, Peter and Paul Barli, joined the company in its early years. Krolick, currently the brand's president, and Goldt, COO, joined the company as partners just this year.

The Barlis are out of state, so Krolick and Goldt manage the day-to-day operations of the brand. Both Krolick and Goldt have plenty of experience, having worked in several well-known brands.

There are five units, four corporate and one licensed restaurant.

Krolick said Blue Moon Pizza is "kind of a secret in Atlanta. Its site locations are solid, but they're not spectacular. Yet, when you talk to customers of Blue Moon … there wasn't one person who said they didn't love the food. Everybody loves the food."

They hear a lot of comments indicating that customers just hadn't considered Blue Moon in a while. "When you get involved with a brand and you start with that base, meaning it's already solid in the market and there is not one thing we've ever hear about Blue Moon that's negative … Jeff and I have a certain set of screens when we were looking at what we wanted to get involved in, and it really fit the mold, meaning it's got a solid base, the unit economics are good, the brand recognition is good in its market, but the thing is, is it didn't have many of the systems and processes that he and I could both bring into the organization. It's more of the things that don't touch the specific operations, and on Jeff's side, it's the operational side," Krolick explained.

Goldt said the love and admiration for the concept from its customers are well expressed and "we know we've got a really good product," he added. "A lot of times when you get involved with a new venture — whether you're starting it from scratch or getting involved as it's been around — there are a lot of challenges associated with that. We're walking into something that we believe is already really strong, and we see some holes in it that we are both very good at helping with, but we're starting with something at a higher level that we would have if we'd started with something else."

Jordan Krolick (left) and Jeff Goldt have stepped into leadership roles after partnering with the current owners of Blue Moon Pizza in Atlanta. Photo: Blue Moon Pizza

In the kitchen

Goldt called the pizza a hybrid between New York and Neapolitan-style pizzas. Everything is made in house, including dough daily, local grocers provide vegetables, meats are cooked on site and the food is fresh.

There are three different sizes of pizzas — a 12-inch personal, a 16-inch and an 18-inch.

There's also a Sicilian style available.

Blue Moon Pizza sells slices as lunch specials. Pizza accounts for 40% of sales. Wings and salads are also big movers.

The Meteor, which features pizza sauce, a house cheese blend, pepperoni, Italian sausage, seasoned ground beef, ham and cayenne-candied bacon is popular, as is classic Supreme and veggie pizzas. Folks also love to P.Y.O.P. — or personalize your own pizza.

Krolick said the brand didn't have a pricing methodology when he and Goldt joined, and "pricing really communicates where you stand as a brand," he added. "We don't want to be priced so high that we are out-kicking our coverage, and of course you never want to be priced so low. We're not a dollar-a-slice kind of place."

Two slices and a drink with tax and tip runs about $10. Krolick said customers choose restaurants for one of two reasons: they either want a great deal or they want a great meal. Blue Moon wants to attract both sets of customers.

The brand doesn't regularly coupon and instead relies on everyday value.

Goldt said Blue Moon appeals to many different palates. There's a good number of families who come in, but young adults, an older demographic and catering are all customer fan bases as well.

"With our catering efforts, we want to have a big portion of our sales done and figured out by 10 a.m.," Krolick added.

The restaurants also have full bars which seat 15 to 25 people depending on the location.

"It is rare on an evening that you come in and not every seat is taken," Krolick said.

Photo: Blue Moon Pizza

Operations

Krolick added that he and Goldt brought in analytics and data collection. Bringing in a game plan that doesn't touch the customers' perceptions of the brand can only help make it better by focusing on improving it.

The brand is currently undergoing an effort to better define who its core niche is and wants to be their top choice. Second, they want to have the best service in the market.

"We watch chains like Chick-fil-A and we watch how they drive their business through service, service, service, and that is where we are moving Blue Moon towards," Krolick said.

Goldt said the brand has take-and-bake pizza, driven by customers who like Blue Moon's pizza but don't have the time to consume it at traditional times. "We have the ability to give them the pizza they like, uncooked, with all the toppings on it how they want, with instructions as to how to properly cook it at home," he said. "They can pick it up at any time they want, take it home and cook it at the time they're ready to eat it."

Blue Moon offers take-and-bake as another way to reach its core customers.

"We're never going to be all things to all people," Krolick said. "Yet, whenever our core customers want pizza, Blue Moon will be their first choice wherever and whenever they want it."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.

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